Overview

Reviews (2)

A good editor is invisible in the end product; the main goal is to help an author create a compelling, top-notch book that appeals to the target market. Editing often means more than catching spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, and it requires experience, empathy, and (I think) a good deal of humor. After all, we should enjoy the process. My expertise is in substantive/developmental editing for story arc, plot, character development, dialogue, pacing, tone, consistency, and structure in fiction manuscripts (of which I love all genres!)—and content, flow, logic, consistency, and legal issues in nonfiction manuscripts.

In addition to developmental editing, I provide in-depth manuscript evaluations; as a writing coach, I assist authors with developing their concepts, outlines, and writing schedules and serve as a sounding board and cheerleader—while performing ongoing developmental editing as the manuscripts progress. My previous life as a marketing director for 15 years means that I can help authors create books that better appeal to their target audiences and are ultimately more salable.

Nonfiction and fiction manuscripts are quite different and require different skill sets, of which I have both. My developmental editing services and manuscript evaluations focus on those elements unique to each form as follows:

​Fiction developmental editing and evaluations delve into​> plot and story line;​> structure and theme;​> conflict and tension;​> character development;​> continuity;​> point of view/voice and tone;​> dialogue and pacing.

Testimonials:"I can divide my writing life into two distinct time periods: before I met Jill Welsh and after. 'Before' produced near zero responses from agents and publishers. 'After' reinvented my manuscript into something fresh, fun, viable, and ultimately salable. Her work ethic is unparalleled, and her comments throughout the editorial process were spot on. Bottom line: She understood me as well as she understood my book. Jill turned my manuscript into something I never thought possible: a really good read.Yes, much of life is about who you know, luck, etc., but if you're lucky enough to work with Jill, your odds of success will greatly improve. She's just that damn good!"― Duane Cerny, "Selling Dead Peoples' Things"​"Jill is a total rock star as an editor. Her style of guidance is finely balanced: she takes the role of the vigorous reader, thereby helping me interact more clearly and concisely, while still being wholly the author. Her fingerprints are everywhere and nowhere on my manuscripts. The extensive time and effort she puts into the process gives me the feeling that she takes me seriously as a writer and that I get great value for my money."― Mitch Robinson, "21:00"

"Jill Welsh is an excellent writing coach and editor. She keeps me motivated and focused. Her suggestions always help clarify and her attention to detail is amazing. Jill is a great resource. In her role as my writing coach, she helps me to stay on track and remain focused. As an editor, she makes great suggestions that don't overpower or change my own writing. It is nice having Jill in my corner, and her suggestions always make my writing better."― Andrew Hicks, "Gamer to CEO"

Work experience

Business, Marketing, and Career Editor

Goodheart-Willcox Publishers

Developmental and copy editor for a variety of high school and college-level textbooks:
Marketing Dynamics, Entrepreneurship, Preparing for Life and Career, and Fashion!

Developmental Editor and Writing Coach

Self-employed

January, 2009
–
Present
(almost 10 years)

I provide high-level developmental editing, copy editing, and writing coaching services to authors who are looking to self-publish or find an agent to go the traditional publishing route.

Edited manuscripts by title:
Fiction:
22:10 (a serialized thriller) by Mitch Robinson
All in the Game by Gary Meredith
Gold Coast by Edgar Gaisie & Edmund Gaisie
House of Goren by Jennifer Lee
How'd It Go? A Bird's-Eye View of Mortality by Michael Weinstock
Lost Light by J.M. Halis
Maxzyne and the Old Horse Theatre by Caroline Lee
Maxzyne Meets the Mannequins by Caroline Lee
Saving Tres Rios by John Witzel
Tethered Through Time by Brigette Gallagher
The Crusaders, Book One: Piercing the Veil by Nicole Taylor
The Killing Trial by Drake R. Todd
The King's Challenge: A Call to Battle by Lucas Zahn
The King's Challenge: A Quest for Eternal Life by Lucas Zahn
Trepidation by Kaytlin Error

Nonfiction:
Apples in the Classroom by Michael de Leon
Call to Virtue by Kim Mayyasi
Chicago Street Cop by Pat McCarthy
Commit to Get Fit by Laura Dion-Jones
Finding Success in Balance: My Journey to the Cheerful Mind by Apryl Schlueter
Gamer to CEO by Andrew Hicks
Hacked Again! by Scott Schober
It's Not About the Clothes; Secrets of the Red Carpet by Luke Reichle
My Life Under the Trees: Story of a Lost Boy from South Sudan by Abraham Mangar
Nutrient-Based Psychiatry by Emanuel Frank, MD
Operation: College by Matt Nestor
Refurbished Books®: a collection by Reet Tine
Saying Goodnight to a Tarnished Knight by Melody Norman-Camp
Selling Dead People's Things by Duane Cerny
The Ashley Chronicles by Teresa Lopez-Honour
The Power of Ten by Rugger Burke
The Real Dance Fever, Book One: The Beginning by Jose Echevarria
The Real Dance Fever, Book Two: The Journey by Jose Echevarria
Vibes from the Screen by Bob Moss

Portfolio (21 selected works)

A horrific crime against humanity takes place in a remote area of the globe. Only one piece of evidence remains in existence. Desperately running from his memories, Eli sought solitude in a quiet university town on the Welsh coastline. Just as he begins to find respite, he stumbles across some puzzling documents. Although Eli sets them aside in an effort to try to live the semblance of a norma... read more

A horrific crime against humanity takes place in a remote area of the globe. Only one piece of evidence remains in existence. Desperately running from his memories, Eli sought solitude in a quiet university town on the Welsh coastline. Just as he begins to find respite, he stumbles across some puzzling documents. Although Eli sets them aside in an effort to try to live the semblance of a norma... read more

A horrific crime against humanity takes place in a remote area of the globe. Only one piece of evidence remains in existence. Desperately running from his memories, Eli sought solitude in a quiet university town on the Welsh coastline. Just as he begins to find respite, he stumbles across some puzzling documents. Although Eli sets them aside in an effort to try to live the semblance of a norma... read more

A horrific crime against humanity takes place in a remote area of the globe. Only one piece of evidence remains in existence. Desperately running from his memories, Eli sought solitude in a quiet university town on the Welsh coastline. Just as he begins to find respite, he stumbles across some puzzling documents. Although Eli sets them aside in an effort to try to live the semblance of a norma... read more

Surviving a career in law enforcement involves a considerable amount of natural instinct, skill, luck, and intellect. Fortunately for Pat McCarthy, he possessed all of these, some more than others, at different times. In Chicago Street Cop, you will: - Learn what it feels like to walk through the wreckage of the worst aviation disaster in America's history--collecting bodies and body parts. - ... read more

Surviving a career in law enforcement involves a considerable amount of natural instinct, skill, luck, and intellect. Fortunately for Pat McCarthy, he possessed all of these, some more than others, at different times. In Chicago Street Cop, you will: - Learn what it feels like to walk through the wreckage of the worst aviation disaster in America's history--collecting bodies and body parts. - ... read more

NOT JUST ANOTHER DIET BOOKThe failing of most “weight loss” books is that they are strict, regimented plans complete with recipes, rules and long, long lists of do’s and don'ts. This approach is exactly what Chicago author Laura Dion-Jones challenges and changes in her revolutionary new book, Commit To Get Fit: Find the Secret to Your Own True and Everlasting Weight Loss.Rather than continuing... read more

NOT JUST ANOTHER DIET BOOKThe failing of most “weight loss” books is that they are strict, regimented plans complete with recipes, rules and long, long lists of do’s and don'ts. This approach is exactly what Chicago author Laura Dion-Jones challenges and changes in her revolutionary new book, Commit To Get Fit: Find the Secret to Your Own True and Everlasting Weight Loss.Rather than continuing... read more

A young man entering adulthood sets out to complete the King of Hornery’s challenge: find a remedy for death…eternal life. With the aid of two powerful yet secretive wizards, our hero, Matt, sets out on this adventure to find that the King’s challenge won’t be easy. Infiltrating Ork territory, deceiving Elves, doing business with Dwarves, and outsmarting a Dragon all become essential to comple... read more

A young man entering adulthood sets out to complete the King of Hornery’s challenge: find a remedy for death…eternal life. With the aid of two powerful yet secretive wizards, our hero, Matt, sets out on this adventure to find that the King’s challenge won’t be easy. Infiltrating Ork territory, deceiving Elves, doing business with Dwarves, and outsmarting a Dragon all become essential to comple... read more

The stakes have never been higher for Maxzyne, who is determined to save her new friends from a tragic fate. Maxzyne always has her head in the clouds, but this time she might be in over her head! When a homeless woman gives the 10-yr-old a painting of a French poodle displayed in a store window, before she knows it, a wayward freight elevator, secret tunnels, and vintage mannequins in distres... read more

The stakes have never been higher for Maxzyne, who is determined to save her new friends from a tragic fate. Maxzyne always has her head in the clouds, but this time she might be in over her head! When a homeless woman gives the 10-yr-old a painting of a French poodle displayed in a store window, before she knows it, a wayward freight elevator, secret tunnels, and vintage mannequins in distres... read more

The American republic was the Enlightenment’s greatest experiment, an attempt to institutionalize virtuous character as never done before. Call to Virtue explains the role of character as the driving force behind the rise and fall of empires, the well-being of citizens’ lives, and the structure of governments and their constitutions. It draws a line between the definitions of virtue from ancie... read more

The American republic was the Enlightenment’s greatest experiment, an attempt to institutionalize virtuous character as never done before. Call to Virtue explains the role of character as the driving force behind the rise and fall of empires, the well-being of citizens’ lives, and the structure of governments and their constitutions. It draws a line between the definitions of virtue from ancie... read more

From the style guru behind the fashion on the ABC hit series Castle:What do you say to yourself when you look in the mirror?As a species, we have an image problem: When we look in the mirror, we don’t see what’s there. It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re the hottest thing on the red carpet or a hairdresser from Red Hook, the minute we step in front of the mirror, the focus is on “the flaw.”Gla... read more

From the style guru behind the fashion on the ABC hit series Castle:What do you say to yourself when you look in the mirror?As a species, we have an image problem: When we look in the mirror, we don’t see what’s there. It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re the hottest thing on the red carpet or a hairdresser from Red Hook, the minute we step in front of the mirror, the focus is on “the flaw.”Gla... read more

Travel back to a special time and place: the Chicago dance scene of the 1980s, when disco ruled and many inner-city kids were either in a competitive dance group or a gang. One of the most successful dance groups of that era was the All Stars Dancers formed by Gringo Echevarria, a self-taught dancer and choreographer, who actually took his talented group of young dancers to the big stage—while... read more

Travel back to a special time and place: the Chicago dance scene of the 1980s, when disco ruled and many inner-city kids were either in a competitive dance group or a gang. One of the most successful dance groups of that era was the All Stars Dancers formed by Gringo Echevarria, a self-taught dancer and choreographer, who actually took his talented group of young dancers to the big stage—while... read more

After twelve years as a successful corporate consultant, Ghanaian/ American Clinton Osei relocates to Ghana, West Africa to launch the family enterprise of Boateng Osei Inc. (BOI). BOI sets out to reclaim Ghana’s natural resources to benefit the larger population. In the process they unknowingly become the target of an international business cartel that is determined to neutralize BOI members ... read more

After twelve years as a successful corporate consultant, Ghanaian/ American Clinton Osei relocates to Ghana, West Africa to launch the family enterprise of Boateng Osei Inc. (BOI). BOI sets out to reclaim Ghana’s natural resources to benefit the larger population. In the process they unknowingly become the target of an international business cartel that is determined to neutralize BOI members ... read more

The Power of 10 is a practice for engaging the voice of wisdom through inquiry and advocacy. Inquiry raises our awareness of what is through inviting us to examine our current state of being; advocacy prompts us to live into what is possible. Together, inquiry and advocacy evoke the voice of wisdom--the quiet, still voice inside us, the confluence of knowledge, experience, and insight flowing ... read more

The Power of 10 is a practice for engaging the voice of wisdom through inquiry and advocacy. Inquiry raises our awareness of what is through inviting us to examine our current state of being; advocacy prompts us to live into what is possible. Together, inquiry and advocacy evoke the voice of wisdom--the quiet, still voice inside us, the confluence of knowledge, experience, and insight flowing ... read more

The year is 2028 and yet another “graduating” class of young teenagers, who were raised together in Area 51, are ready to compete in a deadly game, where winning means they become one of four child soldiers who will fight in World War 3. Split into four groups, they face the possibility of being forced to fight to the death against friends and, in some cases, their own twins. When seemingly in... read more

The year is 2028 and yet another “graduating” class of young teenagers, who were raised together in Area 51, are ready to compete in a deadly game, where winning means they become one of four child soldiers who will fight in World War 3. Split into four groups, they face the possibility of being forced to fight to the death against friends and, in some cases, their own twins. When seemingly in... read more

The author struggled to deal with her husband's alcoholism during his life, then struggled with feelings of guilt during his illness and following his death. This is a book for those who have lost someone they loved, but often did not like, for those whose feelings at the death of their loved one were much more complex and mixed that what is so often written about.

The author struggled to deal with her husband's alcoholism during his life, then struggled with feelings of guilt during his illness and following his death. This is a book for those who have lost someone they loved, but often did not like, for those whose feelings at the death of their loved one were much more complex and mixed that what is so often written about.

Retired Air Force Sergeant Robert Madden thought the war was behind him, but as he entered Tres Rios, New Mexico, a new war was just beginning.When Madden stops at Tres Rios, New Mexico on his way to California to pursue a doctorate in education, he doesn’t expect to stay past lunch. A run-in with the local drug lord halts all of his plans. To escape from a corrupt police force and legal actio... read more

Retired Air Force Sergeant Robert Madden thought the war was behind him, but as he entered Tres Rios, New Mexico, a new war was just beginning.When Madden stops at Tres Rios, New Mexico on his way to California to pursue a doctorate in education, he doesn’t expect to stay past lunch. A run-in with the local drug lord halts all of his plans. To escape from a corrupt police force and legal actio... read more

Hacked Again details the ins and outs of cybersecurity expert and CEO of a top wireless security tech firm, Scott Schober, as he struggles to understand the motives and mayhem behind his being hacked. As a small business owner, family man, and tech pundit, Scott finds himself leading a compromised life. By day, he runs a successful security company and reports on the latest cyber breaches in t... read more

Hacked Again details the ins and outs of cybersecurity expert and CEO of a top wireless security tech firm, Scott Schober, as he struggles to understand the motives and mayhem behind his being hacked. As a small business owner, family man, and tech pundit, Scott finds himself leading a compromised life. By day, he runs a successful security company and reports on the latest cyber breaches in t... read more

Gamer to CEO looks at how video games can help identify and develop leadership qualities in players. It speaks to parents, teachers and managers in plain language to show how players engaged in skills such as collaboration, empathy, strategic thinking, and risk management can apply those to real life scenarios. In addition to providing case studies of current business leaders who grew up playi... read more

Gamer to CEO looks at how video games can help identify and develop leadership qualities in players. It speaks to parents, teachers and managers in plain language to show how players engaged in skills such as collaboration, empathy, strategic thinking, and risk management can apply those to real life scenarios. In addition to providing case studies of current business leaders who grew up playi... read more

Abraham Mangar was just a young boy when he and all of the other boys in his tiny village were led from the warm arms of their families into the unknown and dangerous African lands. They were told they would go to school, but instead they lived through harsh years of confusion, starvation, despair, homesickness, and a desire for purpose. Mangar’s journey is a treacherous thousand-mile walk tog... read more

Abraham Mangar was just a young boy when he and all of the other boys in his tiny village were led from the warm arms of their families into the unknown and dangerous African lands. They were told they would go to school, but instead they lived through harsh years of confusion, starvation, despair, homesickness, and a desire for purpose. Mangar’s journey is a treacherous thousand-mile walk tog... read more

Bob Moss builds his book around the words of the great filmmakers including Hitchcock, Sayles, Storaro, Caine and Streep. Through them, he introduces readers to the elements of film, filmmakers' techniques, and how to find the meanings portrayed. This dynamic guide also provides an understanding of how various people involved in making a film think about their craft. From these glimpses, the v... read more

Bob Moss builds his book around the words of the great filmmakers including Hitchcock, Sayles, Storaro, Caine and Streep. Through them, he introduces readers to the elements of film, filmmakers' techniques, and how to find the meanings portrayed. This dynamic guide also provides an understanding of how various people involved in making a film think about their craft. From these glimpses, the v... read more

About Refurbished BooksTMThere is a treasure trove of buried wisdom that is almost entirely unknown. The trove is found in a number of books, mainly written between the 1880s and the 1930s, that formed the foundation of today’s self-help book explosion. Many of these books are classics, containing profound, timeless—and too often forgotten—wisdom.The reason these books are forgotten is not a m... read more

About Refurbished BooksTMThere is a treasure trove of buried wisdom that is almost entirely unknown. The trove is found in a number of books, mainly written between the 1880s and the 1930s, that formed the foundation of today’s self-help book explosion. Many of these books are classics, containing profound, timeless—and too often forgotten—wisdom.The reason these books are forgotten is not a m... read more

FAMILY SECRETS. PARALLEL WORLDS. FORBIDDEN LOVE. Eighteen-year-old Alexa Moore has had enough of her rigid, controlled existence. Shortly after her graduation, she decides it’s time for her to make the decisions in her life, and quit letting her grandmother have the last say. But when she sees a man watching her—at her graduation, at the market, outside of where she volunteers—her excitement i... read more

FAMILY SECRETS. PARALLEL WORLDS. FORBIDDEN LOVE. Eighteen-year-old Alexa Moore has had enough of her rigid, controlled existence. Shortly after her graduation, she decides it’s time for her to make the decisions in her life, and quit letting her grandmother have the last say. But when she sees a man watching her—at her graduation, at the market, outside of where she volunteers—her excitement i... read more

Think about your life right now. Are you just going through the motions? Do you want more fun and less stress in your life? Is there simply too much to do and never enough time? Do you find your work depleting, relationships strained, and health neglected? As a working parent, Apryl Zarate Schlueter used to experience all of those things and more until a routine doctor’s visit uncovered the ne... read more

Think about your life right now. Are you just going through the motions? Do you want more fun and less stress in your life? Is there simply too much to do and never enough time? Do you find your work depleting, relationships strained, and health neglected? As a working parent, Apryl Zarate Schlueter used to experience all of those things and more until a routine doctor’s visit uncovered the ne... read more

Jill has 2 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Communication

This was my first developmental edit, and Jill was great. She decoded what I had done and was able to give some really actionable feedback on both the structure of my work and the way I was attacking it. With feedback in hand, the next draft will be much easier to write and much better due to the focus Jill has provided and the coaching that came with it.

Thanks, Peter - it was great working with you, and I look forward to seeing the next draft!

Reply from Jill Welsh

Working with Jill was a great experience. I needed a critical set of eyes to help identify what was working and what wasn’t for my novel. Jill did just that. At first it was hard to hear, but she cares about creating a great narrative and helping the author deliver on their goals. She helped me discover that what I thought was conveyed to the reader, actually wasn’t. Her valuable input has...